The striations along the mountain’s sides
Tell us of histories that began and ran
In this land long before the Indian came
Before Oñate and his band came up
From Zatatecas to find gold up here
Which they did not find.
But found instead
A land of dawns that sing and also days full
Of the kinds of work that make one pleased
And evenings by the fires that smile
With us when we have done the work.

The treasures that exist are in the stories
That are told by the viejitos to the young
The stories that sing and laugh and
Turn into the ones the young will tell
Their children when they grow old.

We can
Be certain of one thing alone as we come to know
How life moves in these canyons and out over
The plains that, as each year turns, we also
Turn to thank what brought us here and,
As we have come to know this land we sing
That the land has come to know us.

—

Victor di Suvero, award winning poet and publisher has been living in New Mexico for the past 23 years. Born in Italy, raised in China, he arrived in the US in 1941, just before WWII. He served as a Merchant Mariner and has been writing consistently since then. He still believes poetry is as necessary as air, as water and bread.

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Published by Lisa M. Hase-Jackson

Lisa M. Hase-Jackson, MA, MFA, is a Writing Coach and Teacher. She is the editor of Zingara Poetry Review and 200 New Mexico Poems. She has developed and facilitated poetry writing workshops and circles all over the world and her poetry has appeared in such literary magazines as Inscape, Susquehanna Review, The Midwest Quarterly, Subscribe, Blue Ships, Kansas City Voices, and Sugar Mule.
View all posts by Lisa M. Hase-Jackson